Connecticut man accused of door-return fraud scheme at East Coast Home Depot stores

A Connecticut man has been indicted on conspiracy and wire fraud charges, accused of going to Home Depot stores, gathering doors, and returning said doors to the same stores for credit, the Justice Department announced.

Alexandre Costa-Mota, 26, of West Hartford, Connecticut, is alleged to have defrauded over two dozen Home Depot locations up and down the East Coast from at least June 2021 to February 2022, bringing in 370 store credits cumulatively worth $297,332.

The purportedly victimized Home Depot stores were located in Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland.

Mr. Costa-Mota is accused of impersonating a contractor, entering stores empty-handed, and collecting Andersen-brand doors sold at Home Depot. Without leaving the store, Mr. Costa-Mota then purportedly went to the Home Depot service department to “return” the doors, having never actually paid for them.

At the service department, Mr. Costa-Mota asked for receiptless returns, according to authorities, which he later redeemed at other Home Depot stores, most of them in Connecticut.

At stores that did not allow a receiptless return of the doors, Mr. Costa-Mota is alleged to have simply walked out and returned them at a different Home Depot location.

The Justice Department did not specify what the penalties would be on the conspiracy and wire fraud charges if Mr. Costa-Mota is found guilty.